Where Are They
by AllyraMortlock
Summary: When you know you're going to do something you will regret, always remember to pick up after yourself, and leave no evidence.
1. Chapter 1

Thank you everyone who decided to read this. I originally wanted to write a respectable piece, but that just isn't going to happen... Sorry. Enjoy the hunt anyway ^^

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><p>Clothing was lying everywhere. Black tops, red trimmed armor, pants, shorts, socks, jammies. All of it lay scattered across the floor like the discarded garments that they were. Even the delicate kimono lay strewn about the floor in a disgraceful heap.<p>

"_They're gone..?" _mild confusion.

Knick-knacks torn from shelves. Bedding torn from a futon. Laundry basket turned upside down. Storage chest emptied, its contents nothing but ninja dolls and weapons. Even the poor solitary wind chime serving a life sentence above the door was inspected.

"_They're gone!" _Concern...

Eyes fell upon the traveling bag. Always kept at it's masters side, they were sure to be in it right? With the flap open it regurgitated all items placed into it, once with care.

"_They're gone!" _Panic. Life threatening, earth shattering panic. A hand flew to an ear, "Henrietta! Help Me! They're GONE!"

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><p>Nyanta, Naotsugu and Shiroe sat in the common area, peacefully drinking their tea. At least, they were trying to. Every bang and crash coming from a room on the third floor made two of the three jump.<p>

"Lively up there isn't it." Nyanta said, a bemused smirk stretched across his furry face. When a shriek rang out Shiroe's head snapped up.

"Maybe I should see if everything's OK..?" He murmured.

Naotsugu crossed his arms. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. A woman in a panic is terrifying." The three men nodded in agreement and resumed drinking their tea, attempting to ignore the sounds of a dying animal coming from the third floor.

Within minutes a storm women burst through the front door, startling the three gentlemen. Henrietta led the charge.

"Where is Akatsuki's room?" She demanded of the slack jawed men.

"Third floor. First room at the top on the right nya." Answered Chief. He was the only male with any sort of composure left. They watched as Henrietta led the flood of estrogen through their home.

"_Marielle, Reize, Nazuna, Misa and... Laynesia-hime?" _Shiroe took note of the deadly serious women who ran past him to bound up the stairs.

"This doesn't look good Chief." Naotsugu whispered. "I think we should leave."

"Agreed." The gentleman werecat responded. "How about some lunch?"

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><p>Thank you again for reading this, I'm not sure how often I'm going to be posting, but I hope to have this done fairly quickly. If you haven't read A Night of Nights, and are old enough, I suggest you do so for a little background. It is a hentai so only read it if you are old enough. If you are not, don't worry there will be a very watered down flashback later on. I appreciate reviews both good and bad so feel free to tell me how you feel. ^^<p> 


	2. The quest begins

Henrietta knocked softly on the door before slowly walking in. The other ladies weren't quite so quiet, but they approached the scene before them with just as much delicacy. In the middle of the trashed room sat a very still Akatsuki. Her head was bent; tears left trails across the barren landscape that was her expression.

"Akatsuki?" Henrietta whispered. "Akatsuki, talk to us. Whats wrong? Whats missing?"

Henrietta knelt in front of the petite girl as the other girls formed a semicircle around her. Only Laynesia dared touch the assassin, taking her cold limp hand in hers.

"They're gone..." Akatsuki whispered again.

"Yes dear," Maryelle replied gently, "But we can't help you find them unless you tell us what they are."

Akatsuki looked down at herself. She had just returned from her bath to get dressed when she discovered her tragedy. She was only clad in a towel. Looking up to tell the girls she blushed as she struggled to get the words out.

"This is a private problem is it not?" Misa asked. Her tone was cold and hard. She was not close to Akatsuki and had only been brought along due to her presence in the room when the call came through.

When she got a simple nod, Misa stood and closed the door they had left open. Then she proceeded to close the window. She did not know what could cause such a ruckus inside the city, let alone a bedroom, but whatever it was, the neighbors did not need to know.

"OK Akatsuki, everything's closed, only we can hear you. What is it?" Nazuna probed. Reize collected the fallen kimono from the floor and draped it over Akatsuki's bare shoulders.

".. ….. …..." Akatsuki murmured. Her voice was barley audible, but her three words sent the women into shock. Even Misa's hand flew to her mouth in surprise.

After taking a moment to recover the girls reformed their semi-circle.

"When was the last time you saw them?" Misa asked.

"About two weeks ago." Akatsuki mumbled.

"Tell us what happened that day. Were you training with us?" Reize questioned.

"I did. Then I ate supper with my guild. I took up my post for the night guard. Well after midnight I went to check on Naotsugu, he brought home a case of sake..." Akatsuki had to pause in her telling to snarl slightly. "He got my lord drunk." She paused for a breath. " I helped Shi-kun to his room. And then went to bed."

Henrietta pushed her glasses up her nose a bit, even though they had not slipped.

"Ehh? Shiroe got drunk?" Maryelle questioned. Akatsuki was proud of herself when she didn't blush, but simply nodded.

"Did you see them after that? What did you do when you woke up?" Reize questioned, "We need to backtrack your steps"

"Well, After I woke up, I ate breakfast and then went to the bath house. I went to visit Laynesia-hime. Did some minor errands at the market and then came home for supper with the guild." Akatsuki recounted.

"You didn't leave them at the embassy." Laynesia stated softly. " I was with you the entire time."

"And you couldn't have lost them in the market." Misa stated the obvious.

Nazuna's ear twitched, "I suppose it is possible you lost them at the bath house. If you didn't put them in the locker and the maid came through to clean, it is possible they went into the laundry."

"We should also thoroughly search the guild hall." Henrietta stated. "This building has six floors, not including the roof."

"With a resident pervert, and a severely disproportional amount of men to women within your guild," Misa stated, her voice returning to its cold bored tone, "They are most likely still in here."

Maryelle pouted and twiddled with her fingers, "I...I'm sure Naotsugu wouldn't steal them Akatsuki."

The ladies fell into a brief silence, each one thinking to themselves on the subject when Misa stood, "I genuinely hope you find them Akatsuki, but I have duties I must return to. Best of luck." And with this simple statement, she exited the room, shutting the door on her way out. Akatsuki watched her go with blank eyes.

Maryelle didn't hesitate, "Don't worry Akatsuki! We'll find them. We have enough women here for the quest at hand and nothing will keep us from finding them!" The remaining women, smiled in support.

"Right; down to business," Henrietta stated, pushing up her glasses again. The glare from the window blocking her eyes behind their frames. " We will split into three groups of two. Maryelle..." The elf in question cast dubious eyes onto her guild mate. "You and Reize are to search the bottom three levels of the guild house. Akatsuki, Laynesia-hime, You two are to search the top three levels. Leave no door unopened, no crate unsearched." Three of the four women nodded. Akatsuki continued to stare deadpanned, mortified at the thought that someone inside her home could do something like this. "Nazuna and I will search the bathhouse and question the men. Agreed?"

It was evident that the missing item was not in Akatsuki's room. The ladies began to sort and put things away while Akatsuki dressed. It was a major task that none of them should have been doing, but Laynesia-hime had forced the subject with the argument of, "How else will be be able to have the strength to suspect our friends if we don't first clear one room and make it a safe zone?" It was a valid argument. Especially coming from a person of the land.

Once dressed Akatsuki lead Laynesia to the next floor up. "We barely use these levels. The wash dries up here and that is all." Akatsuki stated in a flat tone. Laynesia looked at her, "That is probably why Henrietta-San assigned it to us."

Maryelle and Reize excited the now tidy room that belonged to the assassin and looked at the next room over. It was Naotsugu's. Reize put a hand on her shoulder, "I can do this one alone if you want to check the room on the other side of Akatsuki's." Maryelle nodded, afraid of what she would find if she entered Naotsugu's room. Walking past Her previous location she entered what appeared to be Isuzu's room. "_OK." _she thought to herself. "_This room is safe enough to start in."_

As Henrietta and Nazuna left the room and went downstairs they whispered quietly to each other.

"She isn't telling us everything." Henrietta murmured.

"Aye." Nazuna replied. "Shiroe doesn't drink that often."

"Do you think he took them while she slept?" Henrietta questioned. She didn't like this thought. He was after all the best of men in her opinion.

"He might have finally stopped holding back. He always does you know. Well, We will have to see what he says when we question him." Nazuna replied. The ladies exited Log Horizon's guild hall with a fierce determination on their faces. One hoping that wouldn't find anything when they spoke to the men. The other grinning like a fox on the inside hoping they did.


	3. On the hunt

"Nya?"

Reize and Maryelle screamed out in surprise as a bag of flour was dropped, bathing everything in a snowy powder.

"Oh! Nyanta! Whatever are you doing here?" Maryelle tried to giggle out. Knowing they had been caught Reize offered nothing but a bow of apology.

"I could ask you the same nya." He replied, looking around he sighed at the scene before him. He couldn't even begin to describe it. Trashed, Destroyed, Totaled. None of these words could describe the wreckage of his pristine kitchen.

"Oh...we were..." Maryelle stumbled over her words. Twiddling her fingers she looked to Reize.

"We were looking for something." The mage supplied as she dusted the flour from her blue surcoat.

"That is a little vague ladies nya. May I inquire as to what it was you were searching for nya?" He questioned. One ear ticked back in slight annoyance at the mess as he placed a bag of groceries on the freshly powdered counter.

"Well..." Maryelle tried to start again, "Akatsuki lost something really important you see and we were looking for it."

"In my kitchen nya?" he questioned further. Pulling a small rag from a drawer he began pushing the flour from the counter to the floor to be swept up later. "What is it you are looking for?"

Maryelle didn't want to question the gentleman werecat's motives in all the questions. After all one of the youngest in her guild spent an awful lot of time with him. Instead she busied herself with picking up the mess they had made.

"An important piece of fabric," Reize replied. She had already formulated a plan to ask without directly putting it out there. She gestured with her fingers, "About this big, fairly thin black fabric. We didn't see anything in the towel drawers..." She hoped he would be satisfied with the round-a-bout answer.

"A small piece of black fabric nya?" Chief paused and put a hand to his chin. "No, I cant say I have seen anything of hers down here, let alone any fabric. Have you checked her room nya?"

Marielle struggled with a particularly large pot. As she shoved it back into the low cabinet she nodded, "We've checked all the rooms, the living room, the basement. We saved the kitchen last since we doubted it would be here."

Reize started putting away all the canisters they had removed, "Have you heard from Henrietta or Nazuna?"

"Nya?" He finished clearing the powder from his work surface and unloaded the fresh groceries while the ladies cleaned up their disorder. "Does this have to do with the ruckus from earlier?"

Reize stopped what she was doing and walked right up to him, her face as hard as stone, "Did you take them?"

Chief turned and looked at her quizzically, "Did I take what nya?"

".. ….. …...!" The answer came in stereo.

"Now why would I have something like that nya? She is a good girl, but not to my liking nya." Nyanta stated smoothly. Relief visibly washed over the two women before him. "Now, out of my kitchen nya. I will handle this mess, and then dinner must be started if it is to be on time nya." As the two ladies strode out of the room, they missed a knowing smirk cross the face of the previously interrogated male.

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><p>This day was mocking her. She knew it had to be. Everything had gone wrong. She looked to her companion. She was sitting at the table her hands folded on its surface, a concerned look on her face. Not only had her selfishness caused problems for others like it usually did, but now to her embarrassment, they were helping her look high and low for something so personal. It was her own carelessness. She knew it. There was no point in trying to deny it.<p>

"Akatsuki?" Laynesia whispered. Her ice blue eyes watched the petite ninja pace from her seat. "Please have a seat, you'll wear yourself out if you keep walking in circles.

Taking a seat next to her friend Akatsuki sat. She distantly heard the princess speaking but she couldn't register any of it. Neither could she bring herself to reply. She was sure she would die from horror if she tried to. She simply hung her head as Laynesia attempted over and over again to comfort her.

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><p>The ladies were sweaty as they left the bath house. It had been a fruitless search.<p>

"Well," Nazuna started, "I guess all that's left is to question the dubious men huh?"

Henrietta nodded. "Divide and conquer?"

"I don't think we need to go that far." Nazuna winked. "There's a simple way to ask Naotsugu. Shiroe is the only one who we need to see face to face."

"Oh? And how is that?" Henrietta asked. She was feeling nervous about asking Shiroe. She had hoped Nazuna could question him alone, however it seemed this was not going to happen. The ladies stood by the side of the road and Nazuna put a hand to her ear.

"Oy Naotsugu!" Nazuna greeted as he picked up the call. "There is something I need to ask."

She leaned forward with a menacing grin, even though her pray was elsewhere in the city. " What do Akatsuki's look like?"..."What do you mean what do I mean?"..."Their the only things in the world you care about besides boobs." Even Henrietta could hear him scream over the line. Nazuna grinned evilly before laughing loudly. "Nope. He doesn't have them." The ladies looked at each other. A formidable businesslike expression covered Henrietta's face as her hand rose to her ear.

"Shiroe. Do you have a moment?"... "Can you meet me at the House of Feng? We need to talk"

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><p>I'm sorry for how short this chapter is. And for the delay as well. It would seem I lost my muse when I discovered my...well...mine are missing too. I know this feels kind of like a filler with the lack of description and all and for that I really am sorry. I am planning to have this wrapped up 2 or 3 more chapters. hopefully i get back to it soon.<p> 


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